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4 Ways to Preserve Preschool Art

by Leah Ison on November 21, 2012

Leah Ison

About the Author

As a work-at-home Mom, Leah Ison finds herself immersed in family life 24 hours a day, and there&#8217;s never a dull moment. Since becoming a first-time mom in the summer of 2010, she's learned a lot through trial and error, which means she has much to write about. Joining the Word of Mom program is certainly close to her heart, and she feels it&#8217;s just thing she needs to complete her already successful home business in blogging and freelance writing.

About the Blog

WhatToExpect.com supports Word of Mom as a place to share stories and highlight the many perspectives and experiences of pregnancy and parenting. However, the opinions expressed in this section are those of individual writers and do not reflect the views of Heidi Murkoff of the What to Expect brand.

Preschool art created by your child can quickly overtake the front of your home fridge and most of your walls before the school year is even over. We want to be excited every time they bring home a new painting, or drawing, or macaroni art piece — but really? Can you say that you cherish each and every single creation?

My daughter isn't in preschool quite yet, but I still have an endless amount of her paintings — that all look the same — stored away in a Ziploc bag awaiting their fate. Whether they have 100 strokes of paint or two, I react with the same enthusiasm as I did with her very first one. But I can't deny the excitement is beginning to wear off a bit. Don't get me wrong, I adore her artistic style. But I can't help wonder where I'll put it all!

I dislike the thought of her creations gathering dust in a closet being unappreciated. No matter how I feel about stacks and stacks of toddler art taking up space in our home, it still deserves its place. I know I'm not alone in this dilemma, so here are some neat ideas I discovered while looking into ways to preserve my child's artwork:

Make a game out of it. Cut puzzle pieces from random paintings or drawings and have your little one try to put the picture back together! Paste the artwork to a thin piece of cardboard for a more durable game.

Take a photo of it. I think a child can learn a good lesson from getting rid of the old to bring in the new. But just for sentimental sake, take a photo of the piece of art you're laying to rest. At least it can still be appreciated and stored on your computer, not your fridge.

Create and art book. Purchase a big binder with plastic page sleeves and slip in any art that fits. It's sort of like having a scrapbook of your child's work.

Put it in the mail. In other words, pawn it off for someone else to display. Grandmas often appreciate their grandkids' artwork more than anyone. Have the kids turn paintings into cards, stick them in an envelope, stamp them, and off they go!

Don't feel bad if you grow tired of mass-produced preschool art. It's just another part of parenting that makes us feel guilty when we really don't need to. Get creative yourself and seek new ways to display and preserve what they come home with. It will only be a matter of time before the drawings and macaroni art turn into A+ essays and report cards.

How do you display your child's artwork? Tell us below in the comments!